Method and apparatus for making hosiery forms



Feb. 4, 1936. w J 35; w T

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING HOSIERY FORMS Original Filed Feb. 28, 1933 I van tor; M'Zlz'am z/T fleW? MW%, A A

Patented Feb. 4, 1936 PATENT OFFICE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING HOSIERY FORMS William J. De Witt, Auburn, N. Y., assignor to Shoe Form (30., Inc., Auburn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Original application February 28, 1933, Serial No. 658,960. Divided and this application March 1,

1935, Serial No. 8,865

13 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in hosiery forms and more particularly to the method and apparatus for making such forms from a tube of celluloid or other moldable material, and this application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 658,960, filed February 28, 1933 which has become Patent 2,003,707.

The objects of this invention reside in the provision of a mold in which the tube is formed, which mold includes means for introducing steam, air or other fluid into the tube to expand the same and hold it against contracting, such means permitting a longitudinal contraction of the tube during the expanding operation and including means for closing one end of the tube by providing an appreciable surface contact between the walls of the tube, and other features of construction as well as in steps of the method followed in the hosiery forms so constructed, and in various other details and features as will appear from a consideration of the following description take in connection with the drawing which forms a part thereof and in which Fig. l is a plan view of a mold embodying this invention and capable of carrying out the method thereof, such mold being shown open with a tube from which the hosiery form is to be made resting therein; I a

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of that end of the mold through which fluid pressure is exerted upon the tube to expand the same;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken across the closed mold at the area indicated by the line 33 on Fig. 1 and showing the tube in dotted lines after expansion and in full lines before expansion; a

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the closed mold taken substantially along the line 4-4 of Fig. Land illustrating the conformation of the closed or foot end of the completed form; v a

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 of the foot end of the form after trimming and finishing;

and a Fig. 6 is an elevation of the form after its removal from the mold and prior to the trimming and finishing. a

Themold 211 here shown for the purpose of illustration comprises two sections 2| and 22 hingedly joined at 23. Each section includes. a depression 24 having such contour that when the mold is closed the depressions coact to form the main part of a chamber 25 (Fig. 3) having walls which define the contour of the finished form.

Each depression 24 is, as shown in Fig. 1, an,

gular and is closed at one end by a block 26 suitably secured by bolts, screws, rivets or the like to the portion of the section containing the depression. Each block 26 is provided with a depression 21 which forms a continuation of the depression 24, a recess 28 leading from the depressions 24 and 21 and a trough 30 from the recess 28 through the exterior of the block. It will be understood that the depressions 21, recesses 28 and troughs 30 are so located that, when the mold is closed, they will coact to form an extension or continuation of chamber 25, the part formed by the troughs 30 being hereinafter referred to as the entrance portion of said chamber.

At the other end of the depression 24 is formed in the section wall a recess 3| extending from the depression to the exterior of the section. A tongue 32 projects into the depression from one side of the recess 3! and a tongue 33 projects from a corresponding portion of the wall of the section 22 into its depression. The tongues 32 and 33 may be integral with the walls or may be formed from separate plates secured to the walls. Projections 34 extend from the sections 2! and 22, certain of which are joined by hinges 35 and the sections, when swung on the hinges, close the mold. Suitable means may be provided to secure the sections in the mold-closing position, such, for example, as that shown in Fig. 3 in which are shown projections 34 from the other so sides of the sections held in contact by a clamping lever 36. The lever 36 is swung between plates 31 pivoted upon a pin 38 having offset portions rotatable in an integral tongue 39 on one of the projections. Obviously by rotating the 35 pin 38 the clamping action is regulated.

The hosiery forms are made from tubes 40 01 celluloid which being suitably treated are expanded in the mold as will be set forth below. One end of the tube 40 is slipped over a sleeve 4| 40 supported upon a pipe 42 and is secured in place by a ring 43 which clamps the end of the tube in place. Attached to the end of the pipe 42 is a flexible hose 44. Connected to the pipe 42 are valve controlled pipes 45 and 46 from which 45 steam, water and air are supplied to the pipe 42. In the illustrated embodiment steam is introduced through the pipe 45 controlled by the valve 41 and water and air either separately or together are introduced through the pipe 46 con- 50 trolled by the valve 48. The form, arrangement and location of the pipes 42, 45, and 46 shown in Fig. l are, it will be understood, empirical and may be varied as desired.

One method of making a hosiery form according to this invention is as follows. A tube 4i] is previously soaked in Water to render it manipulatable. The hose 44 and pipe 42 are introduced into one end of the tube and the end of the tube slipped over sleeve 4| and clamped thereon by the ring 43. The tube is then bent to conform roughly to the outline of the mold and laid in the depression 24 of the section 2| with one end extending through the recess 3| and the other end extending into the recess '28, the ring 43 and sleeve 4| resting in the recess 28 and the pipe 42 resting in the trough 30, all as shown in Fig. 1. The mold is then closed and the sections fastened together by the clamping levers 36 or other fastening means. The end of the tube 40 in the recess 3| is pressed down by the closing of the mold to close the tube. Enough steam is introduced into the tube to soften the walls thereof and then the section fastening means are tightened for the purpose of bringing the walls of the section into closer contact and of insuring the closure of the tube at the end clamped in the recess 3|. The mold is then heated preferably by plunging it into a bath of hot water and steam and the supply of steam into the tube in the mold resumed until the walls of the tube have been forced into contact with the walls of the depressions; ordinarily about three minutes. The supply of steam is cut off and air with or without water is introduced to prevent any collapse of the formed tube, to clear the steam out of the tube and cool the walls of the tube. At the same time the mold is removed from the bath and cooled, preferably by spraying water upon it.

The hose 44 conducts the steam past the angular portion of the tube and prevents it from striking directly upon that wall of the tube as it would if the hose were omitted. This is desirable because the expansion of the tube at this portion is the greatest and if the steam were to strike it directly this wall would be unduly softened. While the tube has been firmly clamped about the sleeve 4| there is nevertheless sufficient space left through which the introduced steam,

air and water can escape under pressure into the recess and thence into the atmosphere. Since the tube expands laterally particularly at the angular portion which forms the knee of the form there is a tendency for the tube to contract longitudinally which is permitted in the illustrated embodiment by the recess 28 in which the pipe, ring and sleeve may travel inwardly. The closed end of the formed tube, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, includes the flanges and 5| which contact over an appreciable surface and are separated from the adjacent portions of the tube by depressions52 and 53 formed by the tongues 32 and 33.

After the mold has been opened the formed tube is removed and separated from the pipe 42. The portion. 54 of the formed tube projecting from the foot is cut off, the flanges 50 and SI are ce- .menwd together and the depressions 52 and 53 filled with any suitable material (see Fig. 5) The 7 upper end of the formed tube is also trimmed as desired and a thimble 55 left through which one or more holes 56 may be made to facilitate the .supporting of the form upon a standard. The

form is then finally cleaned and painted.

From the above it will be. apparent that the hosiery form made in accordance with this invention is constructed from a single tube closed at thefoot end at the center of the sole. Such joinder is formed by two flanges secured face to face and spaced from other portions of the sole by depressions filled with wood putty or other suitable material. This line of joinder is obviously not conspicuous and in fact is concealed when the form is in use for displaying hose slipped upon it. Hosiery forms of similar flexible material have heretofore been made from an open ended tube which constitutes the leg portion and a separately produced foot form. See for example the form disclosed in my Patent No. 1,780,744, dated November 4, 1930.

While one embodiment of this invention has been shown and described it will be understood that I am not limited thereto and that other embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. The method of making a hosiery form in a die from an integral tube consisting in enclosing the tube in a die of suitable conformation, closing one end of the tube and introducing fluid pressure into the other end of the tube to expand the walls thereof into contact with the walls of the die.

2. The method of making a hosiery form in a die from an integral tube consisting in enclosing the tube in a die of suitable conformation, clamping the walls of the tube together at one end to close the tube and introducing fluid pressure into the other end of the tube to expand the walls thereof into contact with the walls of the die.

3. The method of making a hosiery form in a die from an integral tube consisting in enclosing the tube in a die of suitable conformation, clos ing one end of the tube, introducing fluid pressure into the other end of the tube to expand the walls thereof laterally into contact with the walls of the die, and contracting the tube longitudinally as the walls are expanded laterally.

' 4. The method of making a hosiery form in a die from an integral tube consisting in enclosing the tube in a dieo'f suitable conformation, clamp ing the walls of the tube together at one end to close the tube, introducing fluid pressure into the other end of the tube to expand the walls thereof laterally into contact with the walls of the die' and contracting the tube longitudinally as the walls are expanded laterally.

5. The method of, making a hosiery. form in a die from an integral tube consisting in enclosing the tube in a die of suitable conformation, clamp-- ing the walls of the tube together at one end to close the tube, expanding the walls of the tube laterally into. contact with the walls of the die and permitting the tube to contract longitudinally as the walls are expanded laterally.

6. In an apparatus for making hosiery forms from a tube, a mold in. which the tube is expanded into the hosiery form, said mold comprising two movable sections by which the mold is opened or closed each section containing a depression thewalls of which determine the outer contour of the form, one of said sections having in the wall thereof a recess through which the end of the tube to be treated extends, the wall of the other section acting when the mold is closed to clamp the portion of the tube in the recess and close the tube, tongues projecting into the depressions from the section walls at the recess portion of the mold and means for introducing fluid pressure into the tube to expand the same.

7. In an apparatus for making hosiery forms from a tube, a mold in which the tube is expanded into the hosiery form, said mold comprising two movable sections by which the mold is opened or closed each section containing a depression the walls oi! which determine the outer contour of the form, one of said sections having in the wall thereof a recess through which the end of the tube to be treated extends, the wall of the other section acting when the mold is closed to clamp the portion of the tube in the recess and close the tube, and tongues projecting from the section walls into said depressions at opposite sides of the recess to increase the surface contact of the tube walls and means for introducing fluid pressure into the tube to expand the same.

8. In an apparatus for making hosiery forms from a tube, a mold in which the tube is expanded into the hosiery form, said mold comprising two movable sections by which the mold is opened or closed each section containing a depression the walls of which determine the outer contour of the form, one of said sections having in the wall thereof a recess through which the end of the tube to be treated extends, the wall of the other section acting when the mold is closed to clamp the portion of the tube in the recess and close the tube, tongues projecting into the depressions from the section walls at the recess portion of the mold and means for introducing fluid pressure into the tube to expand the same, said means including a flexible hose through which the fluid enters the tube intermediate the ends thereof.

9. In an apparatus for making hosiery forms from a tube, a mold in which the tube is expanded into the hosiery form, said mold comprising a chamber in which the tube is expanded and means for closing one end of the tube and means for introducing an expanding fluid into the tube, said means including a flexible hose through which the fluid enters the tube intermediate the ends thereof.

10. In an apparatus Ior making hosiery forms from a tube, a mold in which the tube is expanded into the hosiery form, said mold comprising a chamber in which the tube is expanded and means for closing one end of the tube and means attached to the other end of the tube by which an expanding fluid is introduced into the tube in termediate the ends thereof.

11. In an apparatus for making hosiery forms from a tube, a. mold in which such a tube may be expanded into a hosiery form, said mold comprising two movable sections by which the mold is opened or closed, each section containing a depression the walls of which determine the outer contour of the form, a recess, and a trough connected to the depression by the recess, said depressions, recesses and troughs coacting when the mold is closed to form a chamber which receives the tube from which the form is to be made, and a device through which an expanding fluid may be introduced into the tube, said device extending into the chamber through the entrance portion thereof formed by the troughs and being free to travel longitudinally in such entrance portion as the tube is expanded.

12. In an apparatus for making hosiery forms from a tube, a mold in which such a tube may be expanded into a hosiery form, said mold comprising two movable sections by which the mold is opened or closed, each section containing a depression, the walls of which determine the outer contour of the form, a recess, and a trough connected to the depression by the recess, said depressions, recesses and troughs coacting when the mold is closed to form a chamber designed and arranged to receive the tube from which the form is to be made, and a device adapted to be attached to one end of the tube which is to be shaped and through which an expanding fluid may be introduced into the tube, said device resting in the entrance portion of the chamber formed by the recesses and being free to travel longitudinally of such entrance portion as the tube is expanded.

13. In an apparatus for making hosiery forms from a tube, a mold in which a tube may be expanded into a hosiery form, said mold comprising two movable sections by which the mold is opened or closed, each section containing a depression, the walls of which determine the outer contour of the form, a recess, and a trough connected to the depression by the recess, said depressions, a chamber designed and arranged to receive the tube from which the form is to be made, tube closing means carried by the sections for closing one end of the tube, and a device designed and arranged to be attached to the other end of the tube and through which an expanding fluid may be introduced into the tube, said device resting in the entrance portion of the chamber formed by the troughs and being free to travel longitudinally of said entrance portion as the tube is expanded.

WILLIAM J. DE WITT. 

